Measuring White Racial Solidarity, Examining Its Relationship to Political Attitudes and Preferences

Speaker: Ashley Jardina, Duke University
The study of white racial attitudes has largely been defined by the consensus view that these attitudes largely come in the form of out-group hostility or prejudice. But there is significant evidence that white racial attitudes cannot simply be reduced to racial animosity; they also involve complex feelings of solidarity, that while distinct from out-group prejudice, nonetheless play a deep and pernicious role in perpetuating racial inequality. I discuss best practices for measuring white racial solidarity, and show that these attitudes enforce racial inequities via a sense of in-group favoritism that promotes preferences for policies that disproportionately benefit white people. I discuss the political consequences of this sense of racial solidarity and describe how it has significant consequences for American democracy.
This talk is part of the 2021 ICPSR Summer Program's Blalock Lecture Series